Across the Universe.('How the Universe Got Its Spots' and 'The Prophet and the Astronomer')(Book Review)

If the universe is infinite, then its possibilities are infinite as well. But in HOW THE UNIVERSE GOT ITS SPOTS (Princeton) the astrophysicist Janna Levin insists that infinity works as a hypothetical concept only, and that it is not found in nature. "Tormented," Levin writes of those who ponder the largest questions of existence, and she wonders whether such mental strain causes madness. The Pythagoreans drowned wayward members. Newton stabbed himself in the eye with a tiny dagger while staring at the sun. And Levin herself tries to grasp the finer points of astrophysics as she struggles with her relationship with a musician boyfriend whose temperament does not always match her own. Knowledge can bring alienation, but comfort and connection, too. She writes, "We often understand math when plain English simply isn't as useful."

When Alexander the Great ...